The thoughts, opinions, rants and ravings of a girl in pursuit of life-long elite human performance.

It’s the journey, not the destination…

I’m not going to lie, learning something new can be frustrating, time consuming, and down right hard. It can easily make you question your sanity and it will definitely test your commitment. What you have to remember is that anything worth learning will take time to learn and master, and ultimately enduring this makes us stronger. I always go back to something my grandfather used to tell me, “nothing ever worthwhile will be easy, but if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” This is true on so many levels and this is what keeps life interesting!

I vividly remember many of my first CrossFit workouts. I remember how awkward squatting was, how devastating Fran was (and still is), and I remember having to tell myself that it was ok to suck, that I wouldn’t suck forever, and that pushing through would only make me better in the long run. It’s these times that build character, and that forge the mental fortitude that pushes us through not only our daily workouts, but also our daily lives. It’s these times that make us appreciate how far we have come and respect how far we have to go.

My latest endeavor has been to learn how to swim. Not that I would drown if thrown into the ocean, but tell me to swim 500m and I am breathing like I just finished Fran after the first 50m. Oddly enough, some of the same feelings I had when first starting CrossFit have started to resurface. Last night, at the pool, I was resting at the end of the pool as I had just finished up about 12 50m laps. I was talking with a guy a few lanes over, and I told him what I had done. I was pretty impressed with my accomplishment, seeing as how every lap takes about 10 minutes to complete because I have to stop and catch my breath at least once or twice on every 50m lap I swim. He giggled and said that was his “pre-warmup” that he did prior to his “warm-up.” Wow, thanks for putting things in perspective buddy.

The truth is, anything can be challenging at first, but what it’s really about is taking new challenges and learning something new. You will not only become a more well-rounded person, but taking challenges and adversity head on will make you stronger and much more capable at accomplishing whatever life throws your way. Taking this approach in the way you live life will make life one amazing journey, and after all, life is about living, not dying, so live it up and enjoy the ride!

Why in the world didn’t you speak up earlier? I only taught swim lessons early summer in high school! I could’ve snuck you into the Guppy class at good ole JLC! “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” – you’ll get there, hun. Hugs/MUAH!

awesome Trish…..I loved reading that!! hahaha especially about swimming and the guy in the pool..I did laugh. It is so true though that life is challenging, but yet so beautiful and worth working for. This was good for me to read. Keep it up….